Croatia: Vandals damage monument to world’s first man in space

BELGRADE – Unidentified persons have damaged a monument to the world’s first man in space Yuri Gagarin in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, Head of the Consular Department of Russia’s Embassy to Croatia Vladimir Polyanin told TASS on Wednesday.

“The Gagarin monument has been vandalized: the pedestal marble has been scorched and the inscription has been damaged,” Polyanin said.

To all appearances, this looks like an act of hooliganism committed in the first days of the New Year, he added.

The monument to Yuri Gagarin was opened in Zagreb in October last year. Its opening was timed to coincide with the 55th anniversary of the first manned flight in outer space, which the famous Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin performed on April 12, 1961, TASS reports.